TOEFL  - Speaking Question 4

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Directions: In this question, you will read a short passage and then listen to a talk on the same academic topic. You will then answer a question about them. After you hear the question, you will have 30 seconds to prepare your response and 60 seconds to speak. You have 45 seconds to read the passage.

  

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Wolves in Yellowstone Park Thanks to a controversial but very successful reintroduction program, wolves are now in Yellowstone again after an absence of almost 70 years. These wolves had been hunted to near extinction on the North American continent. Several dozen wolves were captured in Canada and turned loose in Yellowstone in March 1995. Those animals have done remarkably well, reproducing at a rapid rate. Packs are now located in various parts of the park. Wolves prey on a variety of species, notably elk in the Yellowstone area, but will also pursue moose, deer, sheep and other animals. However, cattle ranchers in the nearby area complained that the wolves were killing their livestock.

 

Narrator: Now listen to part of a talk in a zoology class.

 

Professor: Wolves were reintroduced because historically they lived in Yellowstone. With the reintroduction of wolves, Yellowstone has all of the top predators it has had for thousands of years. The effect has been dramatic. For example, wolves have been hunting and eating elk. The elk leftovers provide food for animals such as ravens, eagles, and bears. Wolves also scare elk from streams. With fewer elk near the water, plants that grow there, such as willows, can grow taller. Benefits of this new plant growth include more habitats for birds and more plant food for beavers. Wolves have such a big effect on Yellowstone. Scientists believe wolves are a species on which a large number of other plants and animals depend. So the presence of the wolves was very healthy for the park.

Not everyone is happy with the wolves' return. Ranchers want to limit the number of wolves in the area, because if there are too many wolves, cattle ranchers claim that wolves would leave the park to eat their livestock. Some farmers may not be happy, but many scientists believe that Yellowstone is starting to look more like it did before people began to interfere with the animals there.

 

Narrator: Now get ready to answer the question.

 

Narrator: The professor talks about the results of wolves being brought back to Yellowstone National Park. Explain what those results are and what people living near the park thought.